Corals reproduce both sexually and asexually, meaning that corals can have two individual corals reproduce together or they can duplicate themselves over and over again (KSLOF Coral Reef Education, n.d.).

Corals will release the sperm and egg into the surrounding water during a particular time of the year where they will join together and fertilize. This behavior is called broadcast spawning (KSLOF Coral Reef Education, n.d.).

Did you know? A zygote is a fertilized egg that will begin to grow and change into an organism (Zygote | Definition, Development, Example, & Facts | Britannica, n.d.). Look at step 3 in the lifecycle cycle diagram for an idea of what a zygote is.

Over time, the zygote duplicates itself until it becomes a planula, which is represented by number 7 on the lifecycle diagram. This is the stage where the planula rests on the ocean floor and begins to create its calcium carbonate skeleton (KSLOF Coral Reef Education, n.d.).

After a long period, the planula will have duplicated itself many times over and grown into a large coral colony that can then begin to reproduce, starting the cycle over again (KSLOF Coral Reef Education, n.d.).

There is another type of reproduction behavior that corals will use called brooding, in which the egg and sperm are brooded in the adult coral colony until the planula stage has been reached, in which the planula will detach from the adult colony and continue the same steps as the broadcast spawning corals (KSLOF Coral Reef Education, n.d.).